


Traveler

by StaticPhantom



Category: Danger Days: The True Lives of the Fabulous Killjoys - My Chemical Romance (Album), The True Lives of the Fabulous Killjoys: California (Comics)
Genre: Hugs, Hurt/Comfort, Injury, KobraCola - Freeform, M/M, Non-Graphic Violence
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-11-09
Updated: 2020-11-09
Packaged: 2021-03-09 00:41:19
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,442
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/27475936
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/StaticPhantom/pseuds/StaticPhantom
Summary: Kobra was back, but Cherri had seen him look a lot prettier than this.
Relationships: Agent Cherri Cola & Kobra Kid (Danger Days), Agent Cherri Cola/Kobra Kid (Danger Days)
Comments: 8
Kudos: 17





	Traveler

Cherri’s heart pounded in his chest so loudly he was certain the others could hear it trying to break free of his ribcage. The crackle of static came again from the amped-up walkie-talkie in his right hand. 

“Can you let me in?” The voice which had awoken him was dry and scratchy, notable even through the distortion. Cherri pushed himself off the bed, clutching the radio tightly. His stomach tensed, afraid to leave the room, hesitant to see Kobra’s condition. Worry and anger had been building in his chest for three days, and he didn’t know which would come out first. 

“Yea, ‘m comin’,” he mumbled into the radio, refusing to let himself relax until he knew Kobra was okay. Every step across the diner’s main room brought the figure outside the glass doors into greater clarity. He was standing, that was something.

The metal doorframe sent a chill down Cherri’s arm as he pushed it open and looked out at the person standing on the doorstep, leaning against the Diner’s exterior. 

“I’m not feelin’ too great” His voice was hoarse, almost as though he’d been missing in the desert for almost four days without any water. Cherri fought the urge to throw his arms around Kobra’s chest and hold on until the sun came over the horizon. It pained him to stay in place, but there were more pressing issues at hand.

“Yeah no shit you’re not feelin’ too great, you’re fuckin wiped!” Tension rose in his throat and made its way into his voice, stress crawling around his body and crushing him in its grip. “What the fuck were you thinkin’? You coulda at least told someone where th’ fuck you were goin!” 

Kobra flinched at the quiet yelling, and Cherri glanced over his shoulder to ensure he hadn’t woken the other inhabitants of the Diner. 

“Shhhhh, my head hurts.” 

Cherri shook his head, taking Kobra by the shoulders and looking into his bloodshot eyes. He was overwhelmed with the need to kiss him, to hold him close and never let go, allow relief to wash over him and pretend the whole ordeal had never taken place, but the purple bruise blossoming over one eye kept him grounded in reality.

“You, get inside, right now.” Cherri took his hand and led him, stumbling, across the Diner’s cold tiles. Kobra stumbled as he walked, tripping over his own shoes. Cherri wasn’t fucking surprised. He knew what dehydration was like—couple that with a nasty bruise from a fistfight and you had yourself a recipe for a fucking hammer of a headache. They walked into the bedroom, and Cherri led Kobra to the bed, ensuring that he sat down and took his sand-covered boots off. 

“Just… Stay here.” He turned to leave the room before adding a quiet, “Please.” When Kobra didn’t respond, he looked back at the unlit room. Kobra was pressing his head in his hands, an attempt to block out the pain thrumming through his temples. The sight pulled at Cherri’s chest, but he forced himself to turn and leave for the kitchen. 

He filled a glass with water, his movements practiced and robotic. There were so many feelings and thoughts colliding in his head that they ran together and formed a buzzing ball of useless static. He put the glass on the counter and leaned forwards, bracing himself against the chipped plastic surface. Kobra was back, so everything was okay, right?

How could it be, when he had disappeared in the first place? Scenarios ran through Cherri’s brain like a skipping movie, each one worse than the previous. His breathing began to quicken, and he shook his head sharply, pushing himself away from the countertop. He couldn’t let himself make this into anything worse than it already was. 

He picked up the glass with a forcefully steady hand and pushed a deep breath from his aching lungs.

Kobra looked up when Cherri re-entered the room, his movements sluggish and drowsy. 

“Here, sip this. And I mean sip the fuckin’ thing, not chug it.” He obliged, nodding slowly before taking the glass from his hand. His fingers brushed against Cherri’s just long enough to feel how cold they were. He sighed, pushing Kobra’s hair away from his face. “Fuck, you messed up bad.”

“I know.” His voice was soft but strained, clearer now than before. He set the water on the floor by his feet and pressed his hands against his throbbing temples. 

“That’s gonna make shit worse, come on.” 

Kobra nodded and held out a hand, his head still bowed. Cherri took it gladly and sat down beside him, the bedframe creaking below his weight. 

“’M sorry. Didn’ mean for this shit to happen.” Cherri brought Kobra’s hand up to his mouth, resting a small kiss on his knuckles before letting their hands fall to the bed again. 

“S’okay. I know. Jus’ scared me, is all. Scared all of us.” Kobra nodded and squeezed his hand a little tighter, shivering in the sun’s absence. 

Cherri reached over and pulled one arm around him, drawing him closer and holding him tightly. The one-armed hug was quickly reciprocated; Kobra’s arm hung loosely over his shoulders with all the weight of the past three days. Cherri allowed himself a small smile and let his eyes close. Tension dropped away from his ribs and allowed him to breathe freely once more.

“I waited up for you.” 

He pulled away for a moment to grab a blanket from the bed behind and pulled it over the Kobra’s shoulders, allowing him a moment to grab the warm fabric and draw it close around himself. His eyebrows furrowed when he saw that the slight shaking hadn’t stopped, and had instead become more severe. He opened his mouth to ask if he needed another blanket before he saw a tear fall from his cheek.

It was a rare sight to see the Kobra Kid cry, and the thought of it hurt Cherri more than the sight of him on the doorstep, one eye blackened with cracked and bloody lips. 

“I didn’t mean to, I promise. I jus’- I jus’ wanted to go out to see one race, one fuckin’ race, Cher.” Cherri’s hand found Kobra’s once more and he held on tightly. “It wasn’ even me who started it, some fucker was talkin’ shit an’ he saw me an’ he said some bullshit about Poison, and I jus’ got so fuckin’ angry. I haven’t fought in a while, not proper, an’ he got me pretty bad, Cher. I wanted to smash his face in but he was stronger ‘n me.” 

“Y’ don’ have to win every fight, jus’ wish you’d not get into ‘em in the first place.” Kobra shook his head, still unable to look Cherri in the eyes.

“I didn’ wanna come back, not right after.” He squeezed Cherri’s hand a little tighter, as though afraid he would let go. “Knew you wouldn’ wanna see me like… Y’know.” 

“Yeah. I know.” The details of Kobra’s face were hard to make out in the dark room, but he could see enough to know that the tears had stopped coming in such full force. “I’d rather see ya than not, though. You know that, right?”

Kobra nodded and looked up towards the ceiling, pulling his hand from Cherri’s to wipe away the tears which glistened on his face. The blanket fell away from his shoulders, and Cherri picked up on side absentmindedly. He drew the blanket around himself, leaving enough for Kobra to grab and wrap across his own cold body. The door across the room remained open, but no sign of movement came from the rest of the Diner. 

Wordlessly, Kobra snaked his free arm behind Cherri’s back and around his waist.

“Your fingers are fuckin’ freezin’, I can feel ‘em through my shirt.” The complaint was halfhearted, mumbled into the empty room with a tired smile. 

“Mm. Wear a thicker shirt, then.” Kobra smiled a little, laying his head to rest on Cherri’s shoulder. Cherri closed his eyes and let out the breath he had been holding since Kobra’s unexplained departure. 

“’S just good to know you’re back, icicle hands an’ all.” Kobra hummed in agreement, more solemn now that he could think clearly. He lifted his head off Cherri’s shoulder and turned to look at him.

He didn’t say a word, but Cherri saw the regret in his bloodshot eyes. Their foreheads met, and he moved his hand to the back of Kobra’s neck.

“I’d do anythin’ for you, Kobra Kid. Jus’ please make sure it isn’ puttin’ your mask in a mailbox.”

**Author's Note:**

> Hope you enjoyed this quick scene, just wanted to write something with a little less weight. Thanks for reading!


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